Jon Bon Jovi on Becoming a Grandfather, His 37-Year Marriage & Fighting to Save His Voice — Transcript

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1. 0:00I will never not be from New Jersey.
2. 0:02Growing up in the shadow of New York
3. 0:04City made us who we are. The idea that
4. 0:07the greatest city in the world was right
5. 0:09out your window gave us aspirations and
6. 0:12Jersey gave us perspiration.
7. 0:15>> [laughter]
8. 0:16>> You know, it gave us it gave us a reason
9. 0:19to sweat and to to to aspire to grab the
10. 0:22Great White Way.
11. 0:25I'd often joked [music] and said the
12. 0:26only thing that's ever been up my nose
13. 0:28was my finger. I never did anything to
14. 0:30hurt
15. 0:32the cords. You know, I didn't have any
16. 0:34excesses and I'm I'm a trained vocalist
17. 0:38for many many many many years. I'm not
18. 0:40even what sometimes you call a stylist.
19. 0:42I'm a vocalist, you know, I've I've
20. 0:44practiced the craft. So when a doctor
21. 0:47had to explain to me that one of the
22. 0:48cords was literally atrophying.
23. 0:51So if they're supposed to both look like
24. 0:53this, I had one that looked like this.
25. 0:56It was dying. And they had to put a
26. 0:58plastic implant called a medialization
27. 1:01of Gore-Tex plastic to get them to close
28. 1:04simultaneously and together so that I
29. 1:06could hold a tune and have my range
30. 1:08back.
31. 1:09Sounds pretty $6 million man to me, you
32. 1:12know, but I had to go with it because
33. 1:13that was it was that or or sound like I
34. 1:16sounded.
35. 1:20You hear how soft it gets and breathy
36. 1:22when I let go. And in the process and
37. 1:24the doctor said, "I promise you nothing,
38. 1:27but work hard on this
39. 1:30idea
40. 1:31and it will eventually get there." And I
41. 1:34had faith in the doctor.
42. 1:36>> [music]
43. 1:41>> Well, the work was yesterday and the
44. 1:43work is again tomorrow. I mean, that's
45. 1:45just literally the facts. It's not
46. 1:48dissimilar from being an athlete and you
47. 1:52train for a season. And in this case
48. 1:55when you were injured and coming back
49. 1:59from that kind of an injury, you have to
50. 2:01also come back at a standard that you're
51. 2:03accustomed to and
52. 2:05and there cannot be any compromises.
53. 2:07So, the process was much slower than I
54. 2:10had anticipated.
55. 2:12But, your vocal chords, when you really
56. 2:14think about it, are as big as your
57. 2:16thumbnail. So, when I say it's up to
58. 2:17God, it's up to God, you know, and you
59. 2:20can do all the exercise and you want,
60. 2:22but then it's it's out of your hands. Um
61. 2:25but
62. 2:27I was patient. I never lost faith. And
63. 2:30although the process was slow, the
64. 2:33progress was steady. God has been my
65. 2:35co-pilot and in this recovery, it was
66. 2:38longer than I'd ever expected, but it
67. 2:40had to be right. If you were to ask me
68. 2:42the question and said, "When did you
69. 2:43think you could, you know, it was
70. 2:45there?" Well, the day after the surgery.
71. 2:47I went
72. 2:49It works.
73. 2:50I thought that worked.
74. 2:52Every step along the way, you know, it
75. 2:54was just a little better, a little
76. 2:56better, a little better. Then when I was
77. 2:58able to start having rehearsals once a
78. 3:00month with the band for a week, we would
79. 3:03mark the progress and the progress and
80. 3:04the progress. Then it was, "Can you do
81. 3:06two days in a row, three days in a row,
82. 3:08four days in a row, three hours a day?"
83. 3:11Yes. And as the process and the progress
84. 3:13got better and I had the love of the
85. 3:15band and my love for them has only
86. 3:16gotten deeper.
87. 3:17Everybody said, "We should go play
88. 3:19again." Me and the boys.
89. 3:21>> Uh-huh.
90. 3:23>> Getting ready to be
91. 3:25back on the big stage. If I had just
92. 3:27been healthy year after year and we're
93. 3:29going about our business and you tour
94. 3:30and you make a record and you tour and
95. 3:31you make a record, yes, there is growth,
96. 3:34but this forced a whole 'nother
97. 3:38shedding of one's skin to become a
98. 3:40different man, right? And while I became
99. 3:42this different man,
100. 3:44I could tell you who were the closest
101. 3:46beings to me was the rest of those guys
102. 3:48on that stage. And how that they never
103. 3:51doubted and never looked for work, or
104. 3:54decided to retire, or the sacrifices
105. 3:57that each one of them have made
106. 4:00um to be there for me, so that I could
107. 4:03be there for us, is on a whole 'nother
108. 4:05level now. It's been a long time. It'll
109. 4:07have been 4 years since I've been on the
110. 4:09big stage.
111. 4:11But, I'm fully recovered. I feel great.
112. 4:14I mean, we literally are
113. 4:15well past 50 songs that are show ready
114. 4:18at this point. So,
115. 4:20you know, the thing about my shows is I
116. 4:22change the setup quite a bit, and we're
117. 4:24well rehearsed.
118. 4:26And, uh
119. 4:27now it's just about, you know, waiting
120. 4:29out the clock to get to the stage.
121. 4:37>> [music]
122. 4:38>> I know many an entertainer who live for
123. 4:41the applause.
124. 4:43I don't think that was ever ever my
125. 4:46motivation. In order of doing it, it was
126. 4:48writing a song was number one, recording
127. 4:51it was number two to see if what you've
128. 4:53written is worth anything, and then
129. 4:54three was performing it.
130. 5:04A lot of these songs have lived in the
131. 5:06zeitgeist of people's, you know, lives
132. 5:09now for four plus decades. So, wow, you
133. 5:13know, you want a number three because
134. 5:15number one worked so well.
135. 5:17You know, and you go out there and you
136. 5:18sing those songs, and people just go,
137. 5:21"Yeah, that's my song." Why wouldn't I
138. 5:22want to have that joy again? There'll
139. 5:24never be another 240 show tour.
140. 5:28There's no reason for that, but I think
141. 5:30that the idea of of going with a
142. 5:33well-paced,
143. 5:35experienced band on the road tour could
144. 5:38really be a rebirth. I think this tour
145. 5:41could be the best thing we've ever done
146. 5:43because I think of it as a rebirth.
147. 5:49My kids. No one warns you about these
148. 5:51chapters in life because then they have
149. 5:52their own schedules in the process and
150. 5:55you're no longer the boss of anything,
151. 5:56but you get them together when you can
152. 5:58and we have, you know, as much time
153. 6:01whenever, wherever we can. So, yeah, it
154. 6:04it's cool, but they're all grown now.
155. 6:06Romeo graduates next month. He's done
156. 6:09with college and uh
157. 6:11that's the end of it.
158. 6:12Yeah, blink of an eye. Quickest 4 years
159. 6:15ever. That's it. They're all in the real
160. 6:17world now. Jake and Millie were here
161. 6:19today with the baby. Jesse and Jessie
162. 6:21were here 2 weeks ago with the baby and
163. 6:24Papa's a giddy, goofy grandfather. It's
164. 6:27awesome.
165. 6:28See my bracelet?
166. 6:30It says Papa John. I'm like the
167. 6:31pizzeria.
168. 6:33>> [laughter]
169. 6:37>> Uh it's awesome. It's absolutely
170. 6:40awesome. No one prepares you for those
171. 6:42things and then you see it and it's an
172. 6:44extension of
173. 6:45you and and them them with their spouses
174. 6:48and then it becomes a whole 'nother part
175. 6:50of a family and
176. 6:52and then the magic of a baby and, you
177. 6:54know, just
178. 6:56wanting the best for them.
179. 6:58You know, praying for their health.
180. 7:00Um
181. 7:02praying for their future and
182. 7:05hoping for the best.
183. 7:09My wife, Garcia. I got it right the
184. 7:11first time, buddy. Um so lucky. It'll be
185. 7:14um 37 years now.
186. 7:18This month.
187. 7:19And together 46.
188. 7:22It's a long time.
189. 7:24It's awesome.
190. 7:25She's great. She has just been awarded
191. 7:27the James Beard Foundation Award for
192. 7:30Trailblazer of the Year by the James
193. 7:32Beard Foundation for her creation of the
194. 7:34Soul Kitchens.
195. 7:36So, we're going to Chicago and I'm
196. 7:38taking everybody from all the
197. 7:39restaurants and flying them out there to
198. 7:42celebrate her because of of this
199. 7:44incredible award that she's receiving.
200. 7:46Giving back was always important, but
201. 7:48doing it through food, which we realized
202. 7:50many, many years ago, you didn't need a
203. 7:51scientist to find the cure.
204. 7:53She created the model of the
205. 7:54restaurants, which now we have four, and
206. 7:57we're about to do a fifth. Her great
207. 7:59dream is that we'll go out of business,
208. 8:01but unfortunately, we never will. And
209. 8:03it's thriving. Uh and we're expanding
210. 8:06into different areas, you know, whether
211. 8:07it's finding people housing, or getting
212. 8:10expungements done yesterday. 45 people
213. 8:13were expunged with their criminal
214. 8:15records because of the Soul Kitchen.
215. 8:17Getting them off the street in Code Blue
216. 8:19nights that we pay for a warming center.
217. 8:22You know, we've built a thousand units
218. 8:23of affordable housing, but it's all, you
219. 8:25know, because of the foundation, which
220. 8:27led to the kitchens, which has led to
221. 8:29these other incredible things. And uh
222. 8:31and all the kitchen in the whole second
223. 8:34phase of it was solely Tercea. So, to be
224. 8:37able to celebrate her in this way, you
225. 8:38know, in in Chicago,
226. 8:40it's going to be a wonderful treat for
227. 8:42her, for me to be there witness, and for
228. 8:45all of the uh employees of the kitchens
229. 8:48that I'm going to
230. 8:49take with us.
231. 8:53Outside of work, [music]
232. 8:54what brings me joy is is being in the
233. 8:57moment and realizing that
234. 9:00the sun is shining.
235. 9:02And and it sounds a little trite, but
236. 9:04it's not.
237. 9:05I used to always have my nose to the
238. 9:07grindstone, always with my head down,
239. 9:10thinking of what was tomorrow, never
240. 9:12living in the today.
241. 9:14This forced me to not only live in the
242. 9:16today,
243. 9:17but be appreciative for every today
244. 9:19that's still here.
245. 9:21So, the simple joys of waking up with my
246. 9:24granddaughter today,
247. 9:26playing tennis with some guys that I've
248. 9:28never met before,
249. 9:30you know, staring at the little puffy
250. 9:31cloud in the sky and saying,
251. 9:33"This is great."
252. 9:35I'm not uptight about this interview.
253. 9:37I'm not uptight about going to do the
254. 9:39shows. I'm not uptight about
255. 9:41This is it. This is as real as it gets.
256. 9:44That's joy.